Going grey was a liberation—from the salon chair, the costly upkeep and the constant battle with my own roots. But the freedom of my newfound silver locks came with a new challenge: My old makeup suddenly felt all wrong. I needed new makeup for grey hair.
This is how I transformed my beauty routine to look and feel radiant with grey hair, and the key lessons every woman should know.
- 8 tips for going grey: What I learned about my hair and myself
- Eleanor’s letter: What does beauty for midlife women look like?
- Turn grimness into fun with a fabulous outfit
How to wear your makeup with grey hair
Framed by grey, I found my old makeup unsettling. I stopped wearing it altogether for a while.
Frances Prescott, an experienced makeup artist, is a proper grown-up who doesn’t go for heavy makeup away from TV lights or movie sets. She’s the antithesis of the aesthetic so beloved of women brought up on Kardashian-era heavy maquillage. Here are her do’s.
Get a simple skincare routine
“First, find a simple skincare routine that nurtures elasticity and healthy clean glowing skin,” says Prescott. “Regular exfoliation will help with that.”
After moisturising, wait a few moments so it has absorbed into the skin before applying makeup.
Adjust your palette
While letting go of the colour in our hair might make us think we need to amp up the colour on our faces, go bold on eyes, lips and cheeks. Not so, says Prescott.
Instead, think ‘pops of colour’ rather than a full face of makeup with an overly made-up look.
“You need sheer products in softer colours,” she recommends. “Start with bareMinerals Tinted Complexion Rescue, which gives a second skin finish.”
Next, “use cream blushers on the apple of the cheek, where you would naturally blush. Then blend it out and up.”
Finally, keep a dewy rather than chalky finish on skin. “Don’t use powder on top. Instead blot with a tissue or blotting paper,” Prescott says.
Use the right red lipstick
Reds are fantastic with grey hair but avoid blue-toned ones as they drain colour from the face.
To avoid feathering, Prescott recommends covering the whole lip in a neutral lipliner such as Rimmel 90s Nude, then take it off and apply lipstick over the top.
Alternatively, here at NOON we love Look Fabulous Forever’s Never Feather Lip Prime. You use the applicator to go just around the edge of the lip then apply your lip liner and lipstick as usual.
Define your eyebrows
“A strong defined eyebrow will frame and lift your entire face,” says Prescott. As we age, our brows can become thinner, sparser and
Again Look Fabulous Forever has a great brow shape product – Bring Back Brow Shape – that helps define and emphasise brows. You use the small brush to apply delicate strokes on existing brow hairs or to fill in gaps that looks like individual hairs. It’s waterproof and lasts all day.
https://www.lookfabulousforever.com/bring-back-brow-shape
Also, Prescott says, “Rimmel has a good range of pencil and brush in one.”
Eyes
Finally, great mascara and eyelash curlers.
Makeup to avoid with grey hair
The issue with the blowdries runs true for the makeup. She explains, “We associate the colour grey with dryness, anything that adds a hard, dry or fixed look to the skin – or indeed the hair – only increases the impression.”
“No heavy make up. You do not want a hard look,” she says.
That means avoiding products that settle into fine lines or overly contour or shadow the face. Ditto very iridescent or sparkly products, which emphasise skin texture and wrinkles. (This is good advice for all of us.)
Prescott also says, “Forget neutrals – they will not add life to the face. Forget heavy black or matte products – they will feel flat and draining rather than lifting. If you are wedded to your black eyeliner it’s fine, but just smudge and blend again and again so the line is soft. Or try brown, smoky green or a dark navy instead.”
What grey hair made me realise about my face
I’ll tell you a secret: I didn’t just change my makeup.
As time progressed, I realised what was getting me down more than my grey hair (which I was liking more and more) was the structural change in my face due to menopausal decline. So, I’ll admit that I had a small amount of filler put in my face, not to plump it, but to subtly lift it. The process took 10 minutes, maybe less, and oh my God, it made such a difference.
Cosmetic doctor Joanna Christou explains why. “Collagen and elasticity declines from 25, but when we lose oestrogen, collagen drops off a cliff,” she says.
“There are other changes: bone-density loss and fat-pad depletion, all of which adds up to impressions of tiredness and sagging. I can’t overemphasise that you can do a lot with sleep, diet, hydration and hormone replacement. And the rest can be fixed with small strategic cosmetic medical interventions: filler, Botox, Ultherapy.…”
So whether you’re tweaking your look with new shades and products in your makeup bag or safe tweakments in a trusted provider’s office, you can discover an updated look – like I did – that can make your silver strands shine.
– Kate Spicer
